While construction is up by 2 per cent for the first nine months of the year in the Quebec part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA), 2009 will end with fewer housing starts than in 2008. It is expected that a total of 3,000 units While construction is up by 2 per cent for the first nine months of the year in the Quebec part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA), 2009 will end with fewer housing starts than in 2008. It is expected that a total of 3,000 units
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Comments: 0November 12th, 2009 by admin
Comments: 0November 3rd, 2009 by admin
Posted by Moishe Alexander
Kelowna area housing starts and sales of existing homes will move higher in 2010. Expect demand for both new and existing homes to pick up as the BC and Canadian economies record stronger growth.
Housing starts, led by the detached home sector, will increase in next year. Strong price competition from a well-supplied existing home market and rising inventories of new, completed and unoccupied apartment condominium units will constrain multi-family construction during the first half of 2010.
This year’s upswing in existing home sales will carry over into 2010. Competitive pricing, a good selection of listings and favourable interest rates will help sustain growth in demand for existing homes next year. Expect existing home prices to edge back up as demand improves and the supply of listings is drawn down.
Starts of detached homes are forecast
Starts of detached homes are forecast to increase next year, surpassing multi-family construction for the first time since 2004. The inventory of new, completed and unoccupied detached homes has begun to edge back down after climbing to record levels earlier this year. Lower lot prices and construction costs have allowed builders to more effectively compete with existing homes. Lot prices have declined in response to moderating demand and increased supply. New home buyers can look forward to an ample supply of building lots next yeara big change from the shortages seen prior to 2008. Competition from the existing home market will continue to exert downward pressure on new home prices in 2010.
Moderately price homes will remain the focus of new singles demand in 2010. Builders are targeting buyers seeking new detached homes in the $450,000 -$550,000 price range. Fewer buyers of resort-oriented homes and second residences have contributed to less demand for higher priced new homes this year. This segment of the new singles market continues to face especially strong price competition from a well-supplied existing home market.
Apartment rental construction will account for the lion’s share of multi- family starts in 2009 and first half of 2010. With rents up sharply and construction costs coming down, rental construction has become a more viable development opportunity than in recent years. Reduced demand for condominiums may free up some building sites for rental construction. Starts of apartment rental housing will total 140 units this year and another 150-200 units in 2010, the highest annual levels since the early 2000s.
New rentals will face competition from the condominium market in the short term as some developers rent out unsold units and more investor- owned rentals become available. The apartment vacancy rate is forecast to increase this year and next.
Expect condominium construction to pick up later next year as the nventory of new, completed and unoccupied condominium units and supply of existing condominiums is slowly drawn down. Condominium absorption has improved during recent months, but remains sluggish. Apartment condominium starts will total 150-200 units in 2010. The townhouse condominium sector will ollow suit, with more starts next year.
Comments: 0November 3rd, 2009 by admin
Posted by Moishe Alexander
Housing starts in the Kitchener and Guelph Census Metropolitan Areas in 2010 will increase from the relatively low level recorded in 2009. In the Kitchener CMA, housing starts will reach 2,170 in 2010, up 12 per cent from the expected 1,930 starts in 2009. Housing starts in the Guelph CMA will increase by 16 per cent to 535 in 2010 from the forecast 460 starts in 2009. Slowly improving employment, more spill-over from the resale home market, low inventories and low mortgage rates will combine to push housing starts above the levels recorded in 2009. Starts of both single-detached and denser forms of housing will be up in 2010. Starts will move higher over the next few years, more in line with population growth and household formation.
Single-detached housing starts in the Kitchener CMA will increase by ten per cent to 1,100 homes, while Guelph CMA detached starts will grow by 10 per cent to 275 units. Although these increases in detached starts seem significant, starts will still be well below levels recorded in the first half of the decade. While the new construction market has been slow to react to the tighter resale market conditions after the first quarter of 2009, the expected spill-over demand from the resale home market will result in stronger 2010 starts. Mortgage rates will remain near historically low levels in 2010, although rising slowly throughout the year, and combined with little price growth for new detached homes, affordability will play a part in increased demand for detached homes. Inventories of new single-detached homes have not increased significantly, as was seen in the early 1990s. As a result, any demand for new detached homes must be met through new construction.